Freckles
by sketched
Summary: Kiba goes missing and Shino nearly dies trying to find him! A road to recovery turns steamy and leaves someone heartbroken! Better than it sounds! Chapter 2 is up! KibaShino, ShinoKiba, KibaxShino, ShinoxKiba....you get the point...
1. Wolf

Disclaimerzorz: I dun own Naruto or any of its characters….I wish I did though….that'd rock… OoO

A/N: ahhh…. Kiba and Shino…my favorite yaoi paring hands down… this ought to be a fun experience! (; …please no flames! Reviews equals power!! Muffins equals more chapters!! Nao…Onward to the land of happiness and glee and super-uber, throat-slitting, chop-your-head-off ninjas that is Konoha and the other villages!! W00T!!!

WARNINGZ: This is a YAOI!! As in boi x boi…don't like it? Go away. This story also has some pretty bad language and violence…especially in later chapters. Again, don't like it? Go away. This story is rated T for a reason…

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♫ ( Frə©ĸĿəς )♫

Chapter 1

( Wolf )

Shino was a man of few words. Of course this hardly mattered to Kiba. Kiba could do enough talking for the both of them, and Shino was just fine with that. But there comes a time in every relationship where one must express their feelings for their significant other. Now this day could be an anniversary, a special occasion, or just a random day in which the need to express a feeling of love is great. Today was such a day. (1)

"Kiba?" No answer. Shino looked around at the messy apartment that Kiba resided in. It was quiet aside from a radio on the kitchen counter playing a form of alternative rock. Kiba always left it on when he left Akamaru home alone so that he would have something to listen to.(2) Shino looked over at the old and worn couch. Akamaru was curled into a little dog-ball snoring peacefully. "Kiba?" Shino called again. No answer. He had come to wake Kiba up to go get breakfast with him. But there was no Kiba to be found.

"Where could he be?" Shino said in Akamaru's direction, though more to himself than the dog. He glanced at a clock hanging crookedly on the wall. 8:15. Shino was beginning to worry about his boyfriend. It wasn't like him to be out this early in the morning and the only time he left Akamaru home was when he was going somewhere he knew dogs weren't allowed; or when he thought it was too dangerous for the little dog to accompany him to wherever he was going…which was rare.

But what worried Shino the most was that the apartment was clean. Kiba didn't clean his apartment unless he knew he wouldn't be coming back for a while. Shino stooped down at the couch and gently shook Akamaru awake. "Akamaru…wake up boy." A sleepy Akamaru reluctantly opened his eyes and yawned.

"Akamaru, where is Kiba?"

"…rrrff…" Shino silently cursed himself. _Yes, Shino. He's simply going to open his mouth and speak words to you. _He grabbed a shirt of Kiba's laying in a pile of laundry and held it up for Akamaru to smell; of course he probably wouldn't have needed it considering how well he knew his master's scent. "Find Kiba."

Akamaru barked and ran to the door, scratching and biting at it. Shino opened the door and ran out with the dog, slamming the door behind him. Akamaru ran down the street barking and panting, nearly beating down anything or anyone that stood in his way. Shino sprinted just feet behind him, hardly able to keep up; waving apologies to the people the dog had knocked over.

"Aka…maru …slow…down!" Shino panted. They had run nearly half a mile through the town and a painful stitch was eating at Shino's side. But the dog kept going until the came a small forest-like area. Akamaru abruptly stopped, almost causing Shino to fall over on him.

"What is it boy?" Shino looked around but could see no sign of Kiba. Akamaru was sniffing at the ground and whimpering. Shino looked down at the dog and saw what he was staring at. Akamaru was standing in a large pool of blood. Kiba's blood from the way Akamaru was acting.

"Oh God…" Shino whispered. He had seen blood plenty of times in his life but he always got sick when he saw Kiba's. He became frantic, wanting to find his boyfriend before it was too late. "Kiba!? ….Kiba where are you!?" Hs voice cracked as he yelled. He wasn't used to using his voice for yelling. That was Kiba's job.

A noise rustled from behind and Shino slowly turned. "Kiba?" Faster than Shino could comprehend, a wolf had jumped him and he was on his back. He had instinctively put his arm up to guard his face and now it was being gnawed at by the beast.

"GAH...Shit…Get off!" Shino flailed his arms and legs as much as he could but the wolf simply bit down harder on the boy's arm. Akamaru decided to take action and leaped onto the wolf's back, biting and ripping at its ears and neck. Shino used his free hand to grab hold of the wolf's thick neck and squeezed. The wolf gagged but bit down harder still on Shino's arm, his teeth beginning to dig into the bone. Shino screamed in pain and made another attempt to choke the animal. It weakened its grip as it died and Shino shoved the beast over. Just as Shino propped himself up on his arms a flash of brown fell from the trees, landed on top of him and a stinging, poison-covered kunai slid into his ribs. A startled and pained Shino looked up at his attacker.

"K- Kiba?" Shino's glasses had fallen down to the tip of his nose and he was staring directly into the dark and mythical eyes of Kiba. "Wha- why did…"

Kiba stiffened and his eyes grew wide with horror. "Oh God. Shino..I – I didn't mean to- I was…th- the wolf…I was aiming for the wolf! And you-…fuck…Shino…I'm so sorry…I didn't want to hurt you! I wanted to kill the wolf!" He let go of the kunai and stumbled off of the wounded boy beneath him. Shino sat up the best he could and pulled the kunai from his rib cage. He gasped as it departed from his pierced lung and dropped it to the ground.

"It's okay Kiba." Shino sighed. "No harm done." He smiled and leaned over to cough up the blood from his lungs.

" 'No harm done'!?!" Kiba yelped. "I just _stabbed_ you with a kunai! A _poisoned_ kunai! There's enough poison on that thing to drop an elephant! Damn I fucked up this time. I don't know how to remove poison. I'm so sorry Shino…" He frowned and his eyes began to water.

"Kiba, settle down. You should know by now that the bugs inside me will easily suck out whatever kind of poison you put into me…besides, I think YOU are the one we should be worrying about…what happened to you?" Shino finally got a chance to look Kiba over. His knees and elbows were skinned and bloodied and his shirt had several bloody rips in it. His dirt colored hair was matted and stained with even more blood and his left leg was completely mangled.

"Me?" Kiba looked down at himself and realized for the first time just how bad he looked. He sat down on the ground so that he could be eye-level with Shino. "Ah…well…I came out here to find some butterflies I saw yesterday. They were really somethin' Shino! I never saw anything like them! And I wanted to catch one for you 'cause I know you like bugs and stuff…" Kiba looked off at nothing in particular and tried to suppress the inevitable redness that was creeping across his face. "And well that wolf and his pack jumped me…" Kiba pointed to the corpse of the wolf Shino had strangled. "He was the only one left I hadn't killed off…but they obviously did some damage on me. I had no idea you were here. What are you doing here? …And while you're telling me, take of your shirt so I can fix up your chest."

Shino did as he was told and took off his tall-collared jacket and undershirt. "Akamaru and I came to find you. I wanted to take you out for breakfast but you weren't home so I had Akamaru track you down. Looks like I just got in the way." Shino took off his glasses and set them down with his shirt. He sighed and watched silently as Kiba pulled a roll of bandages from a pocket in his pants.

"Got in the way?" Kiba would've yelled but he tried to keep his voice down for Shino's sake. "Shino, you never get in my way. It was just a horrible coincidence that you were in the wolf's path. I should've told you I would be gone so you wouldn't come looking. It's all my fault."

Kiba tied off the bandage around Shino's chest and was about to stand when he noticed Shino's right arm. "Oh shit! Shino, you didn't tell me he got your arm!" He started to wrap up Shino's arm and glanced at the Aburame's face.

Shino had a pleasant face with soft, pale skin and running across his nose was something Kiba hadn't noticed in their three months of dating or at any time before then. Shino had freckles. They were faint and hardly visible but Shino had freckles across the bridge of his nose. Kiba leaned closer to Shino's face, trying to get a better look at these new-found specks. He leaned so close that he would've felt Shino's breath on his cheek…had Shino been breathing…

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A/N: AHAHAHAHAAAA!!! Nice cliff hanger, eh!? That's it for chapter one! Reviews please! No flames! I promise the later chapters won't be so wordy! (: Love to all!!! ♥

Also:

(1)- This will make more sense in later chapters...

(2)- I got this idea because my cat likes to stay in my room while I'm gone to school so I leave music playing for him so he has something to listen to. LOL

Anywho…so long for now! I'll be back soon to write more!! ☺


	2. Vital Signs

Disclaimerzorz: One day I WILL own Naruto and THEN who'll be laughing huh!!??!?!?! IT SURE AS HELL WON'T BE YOU!!!! XDD jk…ahem…anywho…ONE DAY!!!!

A/N: A new chapter in this drama of EPIC PROPORTIONS!! WOOHOO!!!

WARNINGZ: This is a YAOI!! As in boi x boi…don't like it? Go away. This story also has some pretty bad language and violence…especially in later chapters. Again, don't like it? Go away. This story is ratedT for a reason…

♫ ♪ **Previously on "Freckles":** _Shino had a pleasant face with soft, pale skin and running across his nose was something Kiba hadn't noticed in their three months of dating or at any time before then. Shino had freckles. They were faint and hardly visible but Shino had freckles across the bridge of his nose. Kiba leaned closer to Shino's face, trying to get a better look at these new-found specks. He leaned so close that he would've felt Shino's breath on his cheek…had Shino been breathing…_

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♫ ( Frə©ĸĿəς ) ♫

Chapter 2

(Vital Signs)

"Shino?" Kiba sat back and stared at Shino. No response. "Shino!?" Kiba grew worried. He rested his head on Shino's chest. No heartbeat. He held his hand over Shino's mouth. No breath. No vital signs. Kiba became frantic and thought out loud about what to do.

"CPR? …No…putting that much pressure on his chest wound really would kill him. Call 911?" Kiba checked his pocket for his cell. It wasn't there. "…shit…okay to the hospital then..." Kiba picked Shino up bridal style and motioned for Akamaru to follow him. Then, holding onto his boyfriend for dear life, (literally) Kiba ran back into town and to the hospital.

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Bursting through the automatic sliding doors of the hospital almost faster than they could open, Kiba sped through the lobby and past the check in counter, slowing down only long enough to bark orders to the receptionist. "Can't check in. Emergency. Get an operating room ready, call in your best guys, and have a defibrillator handy." 

Kiba, when not on missions with his team, would spend his time in the hospital observing surgeries, cheering up patients and, if need be, help perform procedures.(1) Because of this Kiba now knew every hospital worker by name right down to the janitors. He also knew the layout of the building nearly as well as the contours of his own body, and had obtained a great deal of medical knowledge. He handled blood and gore with so well now that one could say he was _comfortable_ with it. He also learned to stay calm in bloody situations, and now as he was running down the hall one of the key rules of being a good doctor on the run came to his mind. "_If you AND your comrades are badly injured take care of them before yourself. If you waste time tending to your own wounds you take away precious minutes that could be spent saving their lives._"

This thought stuck in Kiba's mind as he worried for Shino. He knew the condition of his own body and he knew that his body could give out at any minute. He himself was in such bad condition that by the time he saves Shino he might not be able to save himself. But Kiba didn't care. As long as his body held out long enough make sure Shino was safe and alive he didn't care whether he made it out alive or not.

"_Take care of them before yourself._"

Just as Kiba turned the last corner of the hallway to the ER three surgeons (all of whom Kiba knew well) ran to him with a gurney. Kiba silently handed Shino's limp body to two of the doctors who then gently placed him onto the gurney and started speeding him into the ER.

"What's the damage, Kiba?" One of the doctors, a man by the name of Onazuka, looked worriedly at Shino.

"No pulse and no lung movement." Kiba replied grimly. "He's got a ripped up arm and a gash in his chest, compliments of yours truly. Long story. I'll tell ya later. He's got a load of poison in his chest too…which is the likely cause of the state he's in now, considering the gash is on the right side of his chest and not the left."

By now the group was in a heavily equipped operating room. Onazuki washed up and pulled on a surgical mask while the other two doctors, a tall blonde woman named Misaka and a lanky American named Hughe(2), transferred Shino from the cold gurney to the even colder operating table. Kiba stood back and watched nervously. This was one operation he didn't want to get involved in.

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Meanwhile, Shino's body was going haywire. The bugs inside him were frantically trying to escape the poison and his unresponsive heart kept the rest of his body, and his immune system, from fighting against the poison or working to heal his arm and chest. The only thing that seemed to be working at all was his brain, which only had enough power in it to tell itself to stay awake. 

But while his body was quickly dieing, Shino was getting a glimpse of heaven. There were soft airy clouds beneath his feet and a bright sunshiny light warmed his bare skin. He looked at his hands and arms. The battle scarred skin that he knew as his own was replaced by soft, pale, untainted skin like the kind he had been born in. He looked down at himself. The first thing he noticed was that he was naked. This didn't surprise Shino. He figured God had a thing for admiring the human body considering he had created humans in the first place. And in all the books he had read in which the characters get to see what heaven looks like they were always brought to heaven naked…perhaps as a subtle reminder that worldly possessions aren't needed in an other-worldly setting.

Shino also noticed that while he could feel the clouds under him he wasn't actually putting any weight on his feet. At first he assumed this was a side-effect of standing on a cloud but then realized that his body was moving up and down rhythmically as if…yes sure enough, turning to look over his shoulder, Shino saw a pair of massive solid white wings that had magically taken root in his back.

Amazed, but not overly surprised, Shino turned his head upwards to look at the sky. Something wasn't right. He felt uneasy. This couldn't be heaven. He couldn't be dead. So many things were left unfinished in the world of the living. So many people were left unthanked or their help. So many conversations hadn't been had. And, worst of all, so much time left that hadn't been spent with Kiba. He couldn't leave the world of the living until he spoke to Kiba at least one more time. But it all seemed hopeless to Shino. He was dead and there was nothing he could do about it. Shino came to the sad conclusion the heaven was a very cruel place.

Just as Shino was giving up hope of ever seeing the light of living day again he felt a tug at his heart. It wasn't an emotion like the sayings. It was an actual physical pulling at his heart. He was suddenly pulled down through the clouds and was thrown into a freefalling sensation. He looked down. There was planet Earth far below him and he was falling at an insane speed towards it. He tried to scream but nothing came out of his mouth. His wings were gone and he just kept falling. Faster and faster down to Earth. After a while Konoha became visible and then the hospital. He fell unfazed through the roof, as if nothing were there. He looked down once more and saw his own human body lying in a hospital bed.

Then it hit him. He wasn't dead. Well he _was_ but he wasn't now. Kiba had brought him to the hospital and the doctors had saved him. Shino fell into his own body and found himself in darkness. He was sleeping.

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Some time later Shino opened his eyes just slightly. It was blurry but he could make out his general surroundings. It was a basic hospital room with floral wallpaper, plastic curtains, and various bits of medical equipment scattered here and there. Shino tried to move his fingers only to realize they were held tight by something warm. He turned to see what it was. There next to him, sitting in a chair half asleep and clinging to Shino's left hand was Kiba. Overjoyed, though too weak to show it, Shino smiled. 

"Kiba…?" Shino mumbled, trying to get the Inuzuka boy's attention. Kiba perked at the sound of his name and looked over to Shino. His heart skipped at least four or five beats in excitement before he collected himself enough to get any words out.

"Shino!? Hey!! Morning sleepy head!!" Kiba kissed Shino gently on the nose and grinned as widely as humanly possible. "Thank God you're awake!"

"Hey Kiba…it's a good thing I woke up to your ugly mug instead of the uglier mug of a doctor. That would've just put me in a shitty mood." Shino pulled himself up to a sitting position.

"You sure you're okay with sitting up like that?" Kiba laid a hand on Shino's shoulder. Shino smiled at him.

"Yeah. I feel fine, thank you."

"Damn…Shino you got lucky."

"How so?"

"Well…you were right. Your bugs _did_ suck out all that poison but just about all of them died. The doctors had to practically shovel out the dead bug bodies just to get to your ribs and lungs. You were lucky because a small portion of poison made its way to your heart through an artery. One of your bugs followed it and sucked it out. But if it died in that artery then it'd block your blood flow and kill you anyways. I guess the little guy knew how important it was that he didn't die there and he crawled his way out. He's still alive too…the only that survived. Here he is." Kiba handed Shino a small jar. Inside was a tiny black bug, crawling and hopping around trying to escape.

"Thank you, little guy…you saved my life." Shino smiled at the bug and unscrewed the jar lid. The bug flew out and landed on Shino's finger. He held his hand toward the open window and let the little bug fly away. "Thank you too, Kiba. I owe you my life more than the bug."

Kiba blushed. "Nah...don't thank me. You would've done the same for me...hopefully." He grinned. "But Shino...one thing..."

"What's that?"

Kiba sat down on the hospital bed and leaned close to Shino's face. He smiled and ran his thumb across the soft specked skin on Shino's nose. "Shino," He whispered, "you never told me you had freckles." Shino's face reddened. He hated for people to notice his freckles. Kiba leaned in closer and kissed Shino on the corner of his mouth. Shino hated it when Kiba teased him like that. Kiba looked Shino dead in the eyes and smiled. Shino hated it when Kiba melted him with that smile and those bright, beautiful green eyes. Shino hated it when Kiba made him powerless like this. And Kiba knew it. This is cruel... Shino thought, He knows I'm too tired to fight back and he's toying with me anyway... Shino scowled.

But Shino knew how to bug Kiba as well. Shino grinned and decided to change the subject. "So, how are you feeling, Kiba?" Kiba hated it when Shino changed the subject.

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OMG that was a long chapter…whew… wow…okay 

(1)- I got this idea when I began contemplating the question "What does a ninja do in his spare time?" and I wanted Kiba to have a hobby that nobody would expect him to have…plus it fit in nicely with the storyline and made things much easier.

(2)- I got this from my 8th grade English teacher whose husband was a doctor and she always called him by his last name which was Hughes

Well…that's it for chapter 2…I know, a LOT of medical information about Kiba's health and what happened to Shino during the surgery was left out. I was going to put it in this chapter but I didn't want to drown it with medical information and it would make it WAY too long so all that is going to go in the next chapter….along with some smexy slashy fun! WOO!!!


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